Robbins

Robbins

Reggie Robbins, Dallas TX.

Robbins Special [NR11987] (Jack Robbins coll via David Llorente)Racer, Special 1932 = 1pOlwM; 180hp Hisso E. Racer constructed around the undercarriage and wings of a Wedell-Williams 44 [NR278V] with, reportedly, the fuselage of an earlier W-W (or a Waco, again reportedly). Lack of race appearances saw it in use more as a private plane for barnstorming [NR11987] c/n 11. Repowered 1934 with 320hp Wright as Robbins Special; later sold to Jess Bristow.

Robertson

Milton & Russell Robertson, Alameda CA.

Aquaplane 1930 = 1pOhwMF; 32hp (Evinrude?); span: 32'0". While technically not an aircraft, this was an interesting concept of an outboard motor attached to a sled-like hull, which in turn was attached by pivoting booms to a very basic seaplane-like structure. The motor pushed the arrangement along and, at about 30mph, the forward part would rise and fly at an altitude of about 10', laterally controlled by its rudder, vertically by its elevator. POP: 2.

Robinson

Miami Aircraft Co (fdr: S D Robinson), RFD 2, Miami OK.

Special A-1 (or 1-A) 1929 = 2pOB with "special curve-wing design;" 150hp Hisso; span: 28'0" length: 28'0". S D Robinson. [X3442]. According to CAA correspondence, Robinson became ill and never finished the plane. In May 1930, he was reported as deceased, and it went to executor Pearl Robinson, who applied for the ID number, stating that the plane was "still in process of manufacture." With no further reports and the aircraft assumably unbuilt, CAA cancelled the license 2/10/33.

Roché-Dohse

Roché-Dohse Flying FlivverFlying Flivver 1925 = 1pOhwM; 29hp Morehouse. Jean Roché, who received a patent in 1914 for a design of an aircraft incorporating "automatic stability," which was most likely the basis for this airplane [3774]. Forerunner of Aeronca C was first taxied with a four-cylinder Henderson motorcycle engine, finally flew with the first Morehouse engine on 9/1/25, with Roché at the controls, who was not a pilot, but he unintentionally became airborne during taxi tests and circled for about 10 minutes before making a perfect landingthe only time since the 1903 Wright brothers flight that a plane, pilot, and powerplant shared their first flight! The prototype went on to make some 200 later flights. A 26hp Aeronca E-107 engine (Roy Poole & Robert Galloway) was substituted for production Aeronca aircraft.

Rocheville

1923 = 1pOhwM. Attractive variable-camber design with a Fokker D.7 top wing by then-Machinist Mate 1c Rocheville while stationed at San Diego.

193? = Type unknown. Appears in registers as "Rochivell" [5922] with a Hisso engine. Consensus is that it's Charlie Rocheville and his Rocheville Special.

A 1931 = 2pOM; Axelson. One source states that this was the aircraft specially built for tests with the Deeble Double-Action motor. [12270]. Claimed to be a rebuilt Emsco B-4, previously registered as [X846N].

Roehrig

Roepkin

Casten A Roepkin, Dayton OH.

1928 = 2pChwM; 80hp LeRhône rotary. Constructed at Rinehart-Whelan field, Howard Rinehart cautioned the builder that it was a crudely-built and potentially dangerous plane. Two weeks after it was finished, it ran into the smokestack of the Frigidaire factory at Moraine OH on 10/14/28, killing Roepkin and a friend. [4493].

Rogers

INFORMATION NEEDED

Hyattsville MD.

c.1910 = OM with circular tube fuselage. No other data found.

Rogers

(John W) Rogers Aircraft Corp, Los Angeles CA.

A-1 1921 = 2pOhwM; 65hp Velie M-5. One of several custom-built planes or modifications, most of them based on surplus Standard J-1s, by Rogers at his Western Ave airports in Los Angeles 1921-23 [15513] (1938 registry). SEE ALSO Airline Arrow.

C-1 SEE Pacific-Standard (Venice CA).

Rogers Monoplane (Museum of Flight)Monoplane c.1922 = 1pOhwM; 150hp Curtiss C-6; no specs found. This one suggests a redesign of a surplus Fokker D.7 (our guess), likely built for competition, as witness the race number on its wing.

Rohr

Fred H Rohr was the person who designed and built the fuel tanks for Lindbergh's NYP Ryan. SEE ALSO "If He Had Only Known" in The Lighter Side.

In 1974, Rohr Chairman Burt Raynes resolved to move Rohr into the light airplane market offering an undeniably superior product by summoning Walt Mooney as designer and project manager to come up with a quantum leap in light aircraft technology. It would have better performance, greater safety, accessibility and comfort, greater economy, and lower production cost than any competitor. Mooney selected the best people Rohr had, including key players Bill Chana, Bob Fronius, Mike Voydisch, and Don Westergren, and built three airframestwo flying prototypes and a static testerplus 1/10- and 1/2-scale models for feasibility tests. By the time the project ended (for reasons having nothing to do with the merits of the airplane), one prototype had accumulated 23 hours in the air. ( F Marc de Piolenc)

Rohr MR-1 [NX50651] (Dan Shumaker coll)Guppie or Guppy 1946 = Perhaps a reconfiguration of MR-1 to more conventional lines (if its tadpole shape could be called conventional), which this is contested by those who feel it is the other way around, that the tail-first came first. Whichever, the shapes were similar, with a visual distinction in the canard version and, as the photo shows, it flew. [NX50651].

Rolland

Yves Rolland, Cicero IL.

1914 = 1pOmM; Curtiss OXX and twin tractor props. Tubelike fuselage, with lateral balancing by automtic stabilizers in the wingtips, compensating shutters that were open and closed by a pendulum mounted at the plane's c/g. An engine-driven pump supplied compressed air through tubes to the shutters when activated by the pendulum. Its test flight in Apr 1914 ended in disaster when the pendulum took its job too seriously at 50' and overcontrolled the plane into the ground, damaging it beyond economical repair.

Romair SEE RoamAIR, Waterhouse

Romano

Eugene Romano Aerial Navigation Co, Seattle WA.

Romanoplane (Dan Allred coll)Romanoplane (Aeronautics)Romanoplane 1910 = 1pOmwM on a quad-gear cart; unknown pusher motor; span: 36'0" length: 36'0". No other data, but published news photos show it in flight.

Rose A-1 Parrakeet (David Duffy coll)A-1 Parrakeet or Parakeet 1931 (ATC 2-514) = 1pOB; 40hp Continental A-40; span: 20'0" length: 16'4" load: 262# v: 100/85/35 range: 340. Production began in 1936. Various engines were tried on A-1, but were never certified in the standard category. Prototype, [NX13677] c/n 101, first had a Henderson engine that proved unreliable and too heavy for its horsepower. [NX14842] was tried with 50hp Menasco in 1934. $1,475, $975 less motor; POP: 8 (includes the following three entries), plus an unknown number of later Hannaford B $85 kit-planes which showed up with countless modifications.Hannaford was licensed to manufacture the Rose Parrakeet. Rose drawings were copied and (it) became the Hannaford B, with marketed plans. In that Rose Parrakeet had a Type 2 certification, aircraft completed had to be inspected by the CAA, and there are no records of a certified Hannaford Parrakeet. There is evidence suggesting Hannaford built two aircraft. Advertising by Hannaford indicates that the Hannaford Parrakeet and subsequent Hannaford B are in fact Rose Parrakeets. ( Don Pellegreno 7/6/04)

Roshon

Roshon (1913 Jane's)
1908 = This multi-multi-wing oddity had two banks of seven planes, plus two more of lesser span on top of those, all fitted with about 20 longitudinal parafoils, and all perched precariously on a four-wheel carriagethe only thing missing was curtains. Fabric-covered wood and metal tube frame. It never flew, which comes as no surprise, but it is an interesting example of the extremes to which aerial experiments were carried.

Roth

Hans G E Roth, New Rochelle NY.

Roth Artist's concept (clip: 1935 Modern Mechanix & Science)
c.1935 = No data found for a fanciful design project differing from the similar Italian Caproni by having engines mounted outside of the barrel and two large fins to hold the crews and passengers. Art by Douglas Rolfe from patent drawings. Connection, if any, with the following Roth is unknown.

Roth

Henry J and William A Roth, no location.

Roth Artist's concept (clip: 1935 Modern Mechanix & Science)
c.1935 = No data found for yet another design project that calls for some suspension of belief. This one wore a series of individually powered turbine impellers for lift and thrust, and was modestly described as the "plane that may revolutionize flying." Art by Douglas Rolfe from patent drawings.

Roth

(Alfred R) Roth Aircraft Co, Chicago IL.

A 1936 = 2pCM; 60hp Roth. POP: 1 [14890].

Rotorcraft

Dragonfly 1953 = 2-4pCH; Lycoming O-235; rotor: 18'0" length: 15'0" . Bubble-nosed design with fore and aft rotors. This was a development of USAF X-2A design for military evaluation, and there is no extant production data. Company also had plans in development for 4p, 12p, and 24p commercial helicopters.

Rousch

(Berl & Charles) Rousch Bros Battery Co, 303 N Gross St, Robinson IL.

1928 = 3pOB; 90hp Curtiss OX-5; span: 29'3" length: 24'0". One of two reworked JN-4Ds, this one modifed with single-bay wings [6530] c/n 2; judged unsatisfactory and dismantled 10/x/28. Two others registered as "Rousch Biplane" were a 1927 copy of a Waco 9 [3297] c/n 1 (later s/n 1168), and [3298] c/n 786, which was either a stock Waco 10 or possibly one modified by the brothers.

Rover

Rover [N9799x] (Michael O'Leary)
1961 = 2pCmwM; pusher. Fiberglass canard delta design spotted by a young Mike O'Leary at Hemet-Ryan (CA) airport in the late '60s. Said to be a design of C G Taylor of Taylorcraft fame (nothing supportive was found in our Taylor reference file) and built at Ventura CA. Painted dark blue with white trim. Also reportedly flew briefly a few times, but not very well, and appears to have been abandoned. O'Leary mentioned reg of [N9959C], but his photo shows otherwise.

Rowinski

Nick Rowinski, Milwaukee WI.

Racer 1932 = 1pOmwM; 115hp Milwaukee Tank V-8; span: 24'6" length: 19'6"; ff: 2/6/32 (p: Karl Martin). Built for Oscar Schmidt as Miss Milwaukee, [12094 (never had an NR registration)] c/n M-200, was eventually refitted with Wright J-6. Often identified as TM-1, its basic frame was used in a rebuild of the that plane.

Royal

Bird 1926 = 2pOswB; 90hp Curtiss OX-5. Michael Gregor. Start of the Bird line, it went to Minnesota and disappeared from the records. POP: 1 [N4997]. Was assigned c/n 100; however, the same c/n was also used on the first Brunner-Winkle model in 1928 [X7878].

Royal

Duster A-1 1930 = 1pM ag plane with Wright J-5, no specs found. Reportedly built from an unspecified 6pChwM. POP: 1 [NR175W]; accident at Tucson AZ on 8/9/30, reg cancelled.This was a company set up by Western Dusters and Western College. ( John M Jarratt 4/30/02)

Roza

Arthur Roza*, Chicago IL.

Roza Sport [10749] (EAA)Sport 1931 (?>1935) = 2pOB; 220hp Curtiss-Wright J-4. Scant data was found on this rather sporty-looking ship or its builder. POP: possibly 3 or 4; [10749] c/n 5-2-90, one with Velie [819N] c/n C-31, which was used as prototype for Franklin Sport 90 (ALSO SEE Lasley Sport). Noted with 90hp LeBlond, and is thought to be the original motor for [10749]. *Although first name is unsubstantiated, Arthur Roza, one of the founders of Monarch Co, was likely the principal.

Rubel

R O Rubel Jr & Co, Louisville KY.

1911 = Various copies of Curtiss, Farman and Blériot planes were built or supplied in component form by this supply house with prices advertised from about $175 to $550, less powerplant. This type of activity was marginally permissible, as long as the word "type" was used with the designers' names to avoid any confusion with the originals.

"Few people who know of the work of Langley, Lilienthal, Pilcher, Maxim, and Chanute, but will be inclined to believe that long before the year 2000 A.D., and very probably before 1950, a successful aeroplane will have soared and come home safe and sound."  Wilbur Wright, 1909